


Have

by JointsMemoria



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28454256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JointsMemoria/pseuds/JointsMemoria
Summary: Garie contends with the nightmare that is being so bored she's hungry and ends up discovering something she'd never experienced before. Tied into "The Rude Awakening of Garie Tuman," though not really a sequel.





	Have

The idea of being so bored that the natural reaction to eat was never something Garie had truly comprehended before now. When you're without a purpose, what do you do? When you can't find anything to fulfill you, what fills that void? Of course, most people don't eat the memories and experiences of others.

They do eat meat though. Supposedly some of them bother themselves with the ethical ramifications of that, but that fell well outside of Garie's philosophical considerations. She could just steal a snack off somebody; just pick somebody from a crowd, maybe a lone straggler, and then feed off the short term memories of the experience. It wasn't like eating an entire animal, just biting a chunk out of a limb. It was late, so finding somebody wouldn't exactly be hard, though hopefully they wouldn't have been drinking. The effects of alcohol don't exactly lend themselves kindly to digestible memories.

Indigestion from memories, what a concept.

Garie leaned against the wall of the alley she could be generously said she was loitering in, though really it was more like she was creeping in it, like a real creature of the night. All she had to do was close her eyes and listen. The sounds of vehicles drifted away, followed by the murmur of conversation, until all she could hear were footsteps.

It was something she had practised for centuries. Footsteps were an easy way to tell who would be easiest to lure in to her trap. She could tell how on-guard somebody was; whether they had been drinking, at least usually; how strong they were; sometimes even if they'd bother to struggle. The best ones, however, came from people who were a little distracted. A distracted mind is an open one, easy to reach into and pluck memories from, and just as easy to convince to come close enough to kiss.

Drunk, too tense, drunk, drunk, group, too skittish, drunk, they were really out tonight, weren't the—

Aha.

Each footstep of one of the passing people came with a slight hum, somebody was clearly enjoying themselves, though they walked with the casual confidence of somebody who was sober. Garie expanded her awareness enough to see if she'd be able to grab their attention. The humming implied they may be wearing headphones, but it seemed they were just humming to themselves. They were close enough now and there were few enough people around that she could probably get away with this, but she'd have to act fast.

“Excuse me,” so polite, but she couldn't help but hide the teasing nature that practically dripped off her voice when talking to most people, “I've caught my dress on this pipe and need a second set of hands.”

Oh, Garie had snagged a pretty one. The somewhat slow turn of the woman's head revealed that she was, in fact, very distracted. She looked almost too beautiful to eat, with the way her hair was swept back, a little dishevelled, a jawline that could cut glass, and slightly thin lips that gave way to a natural little smirk—

Garie brushed those thoughts aside, wishing she wasn't so prone to this sort of distraction herself lately. She almost missed the fact that the woman was replying.

“...nging around these alleys, ya know? I dig the outfit, but it'll get caught on everything. Worse are the people usually hanging out in these places.”

She was taller than Garie, she'd probably have to stand on her toes.

“I can handle myself, I just can't always handle the dress.”

She faked a smile and the woman approached, bending down to get a better look at the dress. Of course, the dress wasn't caught at all, though _she_ was. Garie put an arm around her, gently, and pulled her in to a kiss.

Garie reached back into the woman's mind, making sure she took as little as possible. It wouldn't be good for anyone if she left a trail of amnesiacs or, worse yet, corpses in her wake. Memories flashed by her as she focused on the short term, trying to find the point right before she beckoned her into the alley. The most prominent short term memories kept drawing her attention though. There was a haze of smoke, the scent of alcohol, and a sound.

Music?

She tried to focus on her goal, but the sound kept drawing her. It felt raw, powerful, even harsh. It was like an arctic wind, almost. Surely a little detour to see what was happening wouldn't hurt, would it? She could probe for a little before running the risk of the woman losing consciousness, at least, so what was the harm.

Practically diving into the experience herself, Garie found herself walking down a narrow staircase, hearing the din of a packed crowd. She wasn't in control, merely a passive observer, lead by the woman's memories.

“Suzu!”

Her vision was whipped towards a group of other women who were practically cheering the woman's name.

“I told you she'd come!”

“You _guessed_ she'd come.”

“No, she _bet_ she'd come and now I have to buy drinks.”

“The important thing was that I was right, that she's here, and that I don't have to worry about the fact I don't get paid until Wednesday!”

Such camaraderie. At least, somewhat. She could feel that the woman, Suzu, was a little uncomfortable. She was far more tense here than she was walking down the street earlier. She could feel Suzu's nervous chuckle, practically embarrassed herself that she was feeling such a thing so close to her.

“Well, yo- kn– –w it is. This re-l— -y scene, you k—?"

The memories were getting spotty, likely because this part of the experience was already cementing itself into the long term section of her brain. Time began to stutter and lurch forward. _Tch,_ she'd never be able to figure out what this was all about this way. These memories must have left quite the impact if they were being committed to long term like this.

Maybe just a peek. She was pushing up against how long she could search before exhausting Suzu, so she'd have to be precise.

She drifted out of the short term, sinking through the floor, depositing her into long term memory storage. Everything here was frozen in time, segments of memories that she could drift forward and backwards through, rather than the linear presentation that she had seen earlier. Her view was obscured by somebody in front of her, so she flipped the memories forward. Suzu must not exactly be the confident person she had first seen her as, as scrolling through the memories showed her looking from side to side, standing on her toes, trying to see past the crowd in front of her.

Forward still, then. The brightness of the memory was starting to flicker, Suzu's mind being overwhelmed and exhausted by the ongoing exchange. How long had Garie been kissing her now? It couldn't have been more than a minute, though it was a good thing they were in an alley or they'd be getting some _looks._ Though she wasn't minding the experience too much. There was something about all this that seemed to have captured her.

"Just a little longer, let's see if I can draw these back into short term."

It was a risky thought she had, as she'd really be pushing Suzu to her limits with this. She held tight to a moment in time in the memories and practically dragged them upwards through the ceiling, back into short term.

And the moment she did, she was hit with what felt like a tidal wave of experiences. Sound, smell, touch, and vibration that felt like it would shake her apart if she wasn't feeling all this through Suzu's body. The crowd was loud, not shouting, but due to the sheer amount of people crammed into such a small space. Right in the middle of it all was the screech of an instrument, a guitar, followed by a silence washing over the crowd.

Then silence.

Then a voice.

It was almost anguished sounding, like a thousand years of desperation being poured into it, a plea, almost, but one that was clearly leading into a song.

" _ **BOKU—**_ "

A single word, followed immediately by everything going black, then all too bright as she was met with what would be the dim light being let into the alley from the road, as well as Suzu's face, looking almost placid due to her having completely passed out. It was a good thing Garie was holding her, otherwise she'd have completely collapsed. Of course, that didn't make the fact that she had to hold her up at all any better.

"You humans don't have nearly the endurance I wish you did..."

She was conflicted. If she left her here there'd be problems, but it wasn't like she could just show up somewhere with an unconscious body and have to explain that. Garie let out a sigh that was almost comically overdrawn, hoisted Suzu up so it looked like she was walking, and took the least crowded route away from the alley she could, simply looking like she was helping a drunk friend make their way home, cursing the conspicuous nature of her dress.

"Well Suzu, I hope you don't mind me taking you back to my old place, but I've got some things I want to ask you when you finally wake up."

She may not have gotten what she was after, but she had enough patience to have another go at it later.


End file.
